


between the blank pages

by Razia



Category: Bleach
Genre: Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Out of Character, Pre-Slash, Temporary Amnesia, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-06 20:44:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19070347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Razia/pseuds/Razia
Summary: A kidou spell goes wrong. Oops.





	between the blank pages

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dyal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dyal/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Pillow Talk](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13656258) by [RC_McLachlan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RC_McLachlan/pseuds/RC_McLachlan). 



> I was bored. Dyal gave me a prompt (cheesy/flirty Shinji) and then I wrote this. Enjoy ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

 

 

 

 

“What do you mean, _temporary amnesia_?” Ichigo stares at Kisuke with a mixture of shock and unwilling amusement. Kisuke opens his fan over his face, trying to hide a grin and not succeeding.

“I mean exactly that. Temporary amnesia,” he says, looking down at a bunch of notes on the table.

Ichigo can see some diagrams and a pie chart, a lot of chicken scratch on the margins. Shinji’s stupid hat is atop a bunch of paper sheets in a corner.

“And how the hell did Shinji get this temporary amnesia?” Ichigo asks in a dry voice as he puts his backpack aside.

“Kidou experiment gone wrong, of course.”

“Of course.” Ichigo sighs, a little worried but not wanting to admit it. It’s not like Kisuke would put Shinji’s life at risk—much, anyway—but a kidou spell that can mess with memories is not something to laugh at.

“Ichigo,” Kisuke says, abandoning the fan in favor of sitting down, “he’s in the next room.” Kisuke throws him a knowing look, but soon shifts his attention back to his notes, hand already reaching for a pen.

Ichigo bites his lips, willing away the blush that’s threatening to appear on his face. Thankfully Kisuke isn’t looking at him anymore. He shuffles in place, fighting against his mortification, then thinks _screw it_ and heads off to the spare bedroom behind Kisuke’s office.

The door is ajar. Ichigo approaches with silent steps and pokes his head inside. The room’s lights are out, only the warm sunset illuminating the man on the bed.

Shinji seems fast asleep, curled on his side, facing the door.

Ichigo can’t help but stand there for a moment. Shinji’s hair glows golden in the fading pink light, getting longer by the day. Ichigo wants to run his hands through it, wants to caress Shinji’s pale cheek and ask if everything’s alright, if he needs something, anything, Ichigo will get it for him.

He mentally slaps himself and turns around to close the door, softly, careful of any loud noises.

He turns back to a pair of greyish brown eyes staring at him.

He freezes, feeling like he’s been caught doing something wrong. Shinji’s stare is heavy, but his face is blank of anything. Ichigo swallows and takes just one step forward, watching Shinji’s reaction, worried he’s going to spook him. But Shinji doesn’t seem afraid of him. In fact, Shinji looks way too interested in Ichigo’s face, eyes boring holes into him as he finally approaches the bed and sits down on the edge.

Shinji blinks slowly, moving his head in a sluggish tilt to stare at Ichigo from the new angle.

“Shinji... how are you feeling?” Ichigo asks, voice soft in a way he rarely uses.

Shinji frowns slightly, a tiny movement of his brow that Ichigo wouldn’t have noticed if he weren’t paying such close attention.

“Ya know my name.” It’s not a question, but Ichigo still nods.

“Yeah, we’re friends.”

Shinji just keeps looking at him.

“Kisuke told me what happened. You should know better than to volunteer to be a guinea pig.”

Shinji doesn’t answer, but a subtle smile curves his mouth, eyes somewhat unfocused. He’s probably a little out of it, from the kidou and the confusion. Ichigo opens his mouth, not really knowing what to say, but Shinji beats him to it.

“Yer so pretty.”

Ichigo’s heart skips two beats, eyes widening. A shock of surprised delight courses through him, until he remembers that Shinji is not quite Shinji right now. He tramples down on his giddy feelings, mentally scowling at himself for even thinking of taking advantage of the situation.

“Ah... thank you?” He says, keeping his face a careful mask of bewilderment and worry—which is not hard to do, because he does feel bewildered _and_ worried at Shinji’s current state.

“Ya don’t sound convinced, but I swear ya are.” Shinji says, small smile starting to turn into a grin.

“Okay, I believe you.” Ichigo does not believe him.

Shinji’s smile falls into a pout that shouldn’t be as cute as it is, clearly seeing through Ichigo’s lie.

“What’s yer name?”

“Ichigo.”

“As in ‘strawberry’?”

Ichigo scowls at him. “As in ‘first protector’.”

Shinji hums, seemingly genuinely interested. “What a beautiful name for a beautiful person.”

Ichigo’s face heats up, and now he’s all out blushing, red cheeks probably obvious even in the low light. He can’t even keep his scowl up, face contorting in what he’s sure is an overwhelmed expression.

“And ya blush very prettily.”

Shinji’s grin is cheshire wide, smugness radiating from him. Ichigo doesn’t think he can handle much more of this.

“Okay, I can see you’re fine, more than fine actually, I’ll be going then—”

“Ah, but is it okay ta leave someone incapacitated alone?”

“You are _not_ incapacitated.”

“I _will_ be without yer lovely presence ‘ere.”

Ichigo groans, face still on fire and not showing any sign of stopping, but he settles more comfortably on the edge of the bed. Shinji’s grin is bright and triumphant when he realizes Ichigo is staying. He pushes himself up, to rest his back against the wall. Ichigo watches, hawk-eyed, ready to spring to action if Shinji so much as tilts to the side.

“So, Ichigo,” Shinji says his name like it’s a tasty candy, and Ichigo feels his blush spreading to his ears, “what do ya do for a living besides bein' sexy?”

Oh god. Ichigo ignores the last part as he tries to situate Shinji; perhaps giving him facts will jog his memory.

“I’m majoring in English right now.”

“Ah, shall I compare thee to a summer’s day, then?”

Ichigo freezes up in shock, then starts fidgeting. “Did you just... did you just throw a shakespearean pick up line at me?”

“Apparently I did, whatever _shakespirien_ means.”

“Shakespeare is a famous dead author.” Ichigo hesitates for a second, then adds, “He’s also one of my favorites.”

Shinji hums again, sounding like he just understood something. Ichigo wants to ask, but if Shinji spouts more flirty shit, Ichigo is going to combust. Then something catches his attention.

“Wait a minute! How can you remember such a specific phrase if you’re supposed to be amnesiac right now?”

“Dude with the weird hat said I’d probably remember some random useless bits here and there, but nothin' concrete for a few hours at least.”

“Oh.”

“Tho’ nothin’ is useless if it makes you squirm like that.”

Ichigo brings a hand to his face, trying and not succeeding in containing an embarrassed smile. A nice, warm chuckle in front of him is all he needs to know Shinji sees through his exasperation. The sound travels through Ichigo’s body, all the way down to his curling toes.

“Yer very cute, and very flustered,” Shinji says, resting his head against the wall and looking at Ichigo with hooded eyes. “Is this the first time I’m flirting with ya? It can’t be.”

Ugh, Shinji is even more shameless like this. “I assure you it is.”

“Memoryful me is a coward.”

“‘Memoryful’ is not even a word, Shinji.”

“It is now.”

A surprised, small laugh escapes Ichigo’s mouth before he slaps a hand against it. A soft touch against his arm makes him look up.

“Don’t hide. I like seeing ya laugh.”

Ichigo shouldn’t be indulging in this when Shinji doesn’t even remember who he is, but Shinji is looking at him like he’d rather not look at anything else, and it’s so, so hard to set any kind of limit.

“You should leave off the compliments until you’re sure of what you’re saying.” Being noble is hard.

“Don’tcha worry. I’m pretty sure of what I’m sayin’, darlin’.”

 _Darling_. Ichigo bites his lower lip, face contorting into uncertainty even as his heart flips. “I just don’t want you to say something you might regret later.”

“How can I convince ya?” Shinji leans forward, eagerness in his voice but a hard light in his eyes. “Should I tell ya ‘bout the way the sunset falls inta yer hair and lights it up like fire? How the light makes yer eyes look golden? How the moment you stepped inta the room I _knew_ who ya were, even tho’ I don’t remember?”

Silence falls inside the room. Ichigo takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, equal parts overwhelmed and full of wonder.

“Let me take ya on a date when I get my memories back, yeah?” Shinji asks, voice soft. He rubs his eyes, a small yawn escaping him.

“Yeah, okay,” Ichigo says, equally soft.

Shinji blinks up at Ichigo, surprise plain on his face before it morphs into a tired smile.

“Well, that was easy.”

Ichigo huffs. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Let’s see what you think when you wake up remembering everything.”

“Never fear darlin’, I’ll still throw cheesy pick up lines at ya.”

“Yeah yeah, go to sleep now.”

“Sleep sounds wonderful.” Then Shinji lies back down, pulling the covers over his nose. His eyes follow Ichigo to the door.

“Ichigo,” he calls as Ichigo opens the door. “Will ya be here later?”

Ichigo turns around, throws an unguarded smile at Shinji, taking a last look at him under the fading sunset.

“Of course.”

He carefully closes the door behind him, steps soft as they fade away down the hallway.

 

 

 

 

Three hours later, Ichigo is hunched over Kisuke’s desk, trying and failing to read an assignment. His eyes scan the text and the letters swim around, like tiny little black fishes. He puts the paper down and rubs his eyes.

Kisuke, astonishingly enough, retired to bed an hour ago, and Ichigo is thinking of doing the same... but he said he would be here, and he’s loathe to leave Shinji to wake up to a silent place. What if he’s still under the effects of the kidou?

A soft sound outside the door grabs his attention, and he looks up just in time to see Shinji entering the room.

Shinji stops for a moment when he spots Ichigo. He still looks tired, but there’s no confusion in his eyes, no slowness to his movements as he closes the door and makes his way to the desk. He leans forward, resting his hands on the wood, and looks down at Ichigo.

“Hey, pretty. Do ya come’ere often?” Shinji asks, mouth starting to curl into a smile.

Ichigo huffs a laugh, smiles up at him with something soft settling in his chest.

“Only when you do.”

Shinji’s answering grin is brilliant.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me on [tumblr](https://raz-ia.tumblr.com/) and come join the [ShinIchi discord server](https://discord.gg/WMNUQQ6) :D


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